The Big Question: Why is creationism on the rise, and does it have a place in education? was, Re: One in 10 pupils believes in creationism

[dirkie]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Zij zullen niet rusten tot de dark Ages terug zijn.
De paus in Frankrijk....
hoe gaat zoiets? 

Hier een VP die een vette kans heeft Presidentin te worden als McCain de 80 niet haalt.
Het wordt nog veel erger zei Schopenhauer


--- On Thu, 9/11/08, Henk Elegeert <hmje at home.nl> wrote:

> From: Henk Elegeert <hmje at home.nl>
> Subject: The Big Question: Why is creationism on the rise, and does it have a place in education? was, Re: One in 10 pupils believes in creationism
> To: "d66" <D66 at nic.surfnet.nl>
> Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 11:14 PM
> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
> 
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/the-big-question-why-is-creationism-on-the-rise-and-does-it-have-a-place-in-education-927035.html
> "
> The Big Question: Why is creationism on the rise, and does
> it have a
> place in education?
> 
> By Archie Bland
> Friday, 12 September 2008
> 
> Why are we asking this now?
> 
> The theory of evolution has held sway in British science
> curricula for
> decades. But yesterday, Professor Michael Reiss, Director
> of Education
> at the Royal Society, made the case for bringing
> creationism back into
> the classroom. And a recent documentary found that there
> are a number
> of schools where creationist ideas are taught as an
> alternative to the
> mainstream evolutionary point of view.
> 
> How do these theories differ?
> 
> Proponents of evolution believe species change by a process
> of random
> genetic mutations. They believe the world is 13-14 billion
> years old.
> Creationists, in contrast, believe that the Earth is less
> than 10,000
> years old, and that its existence is the result of one of
> the
> processes described in religious texts like the Bible. They
> reject the
> idea that one species could evolve into another. A related
> theory,
> intelligent design – sometimes described as
> "creationism in a cheap
> tuxedo" – attempts to strip the religious element
> out of the formal
> theory, instead referring to an unknown intelligent force
> at the
> beginning of the universe.
> 
> Why is teaching creationism controversial?
> 
> Many who oppose creationism in the science classroom are
> quite happy
> for it to be discussed in Religious Education. But it is
> very hard to
> make the case for creationism as a legitimate scientific
> theory.
> Teaching creationism in the classroom, says Richard
> Dawkins, "would
> hand creationism the only victory it realistically aspires
> to. Without
> needing to make a single good point in any argument, it
> would have won
> the right for a form of supernaturalism to be recognised as
> an
> authentic part of science."
> 
> What does Professor Reiss argue?
> 
> Reiss is a priest as well as a scientist, but he is far
> from an
> advocate of the intelligent design theory. But, he says,
> treating
> intelligent design as too obviously simple-minded to merit
> discussion
> is a mistake. Creationist beliefs, he argues, are much more
> likely to
> be part of a complex set of related cultural ideas than a
> simple
> misconception; a 50-minute science lesson that ignores them
> is more
> likely to alienate a student than suddenly endow him with a
> new
> worldview.
> 
> Instead, according to Reiss, the best a science teacher can
> hope for
> is to lay out the evidence for evolution, and at least make
> sure that
> they see that the word "theory" does not simply
> mean a hypothesis
> about the way things might work, but a rigorously supported
> system of
> ideas that fit with the available evidence. "While it
> is unlikely that
> this will help students who have a conflict between science
> and their
> religious beliefs to resolve the conflict," he
> concludes, "good
> science teaching can help students to manage it – and to
> learn more
> science."
> 
> Is creationism taught now?
> 
> According to a More 4 report earlier this year, there are
> at least 40
> schools in Britain that teach creationism in science
> lessons. Of those
> schools, five were part of the state system, but defied
> government
> guidelines. The report was the result of enquiries to just
> 50 faith
> schools, of almost 7,000 in the country (over 99 per cent
> of which are
> Christian) – so there may be many more schools doing the
> same thing.
> 
> This is not the first suggestion that creationism is on the
> rise. In
> 2006, a group called Truth in Science sent out intelligent
> design
> teaching materials to every secondary school in the
> country, at least
> 59 of which began using them. And there has been a
> longstanding
> controversy over the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, an
> evangelical
> organisation that already runs three schools under the
> Government's
> academies scheme and hopes to take on four more, and which
> has been
> widely criticised for teaching evolution and creationism as
> competing
> scientific theories – although Ofsted found no problem
> with its
> science provision.
> 
> What's the official position?
> 
> In 2002, Tony Blair said that he was relaxed about the
> Emmanuel
> Schools position, saying that "it would be
> unfortunate" if the issue
> stood in the way of "getting as diverse a school
> system as we properly
> can". The Government's Guidance on Creationism and
> Intelligent Design,
> to which Professor Reiss contributed, is the most recent
> official word
> on the subject. It says that creationism and intelligent
> design should
> not be taught as part of the national curriculum; but,
> crucially, it
> adds that "there is a real difference between teaching
> 'x' and
> teaching about 'x'", and argues that questions
> about creationism
> "could provide the opportunity to explain why they are
> not scientific
> theories".
> 
> What do the public think?
> 
> Professor Reiss estimated yesterday that perhaps 10 per
> cent of the
> public believe in creationism, but this may be a severe
> underestimate:
> according to a 2006 Mori poll, 39 per cent of people
> believe in either
> creationism or intelligent design – and more than 40 per
> cent believe
> they should be taught in schools.
> 
> How does this compare internationally?
> 
> Our 39 per cent of people being adherents to creationism
> may sound
> high, but it is considerably lower than the United States,
> where
> surveys say that 66 per cent of people believed that the
> world was
> less than 10,000 years old – and even 16 per cent of
> biology teachers
> are creationists. America's culture war makes it
> particularly fertile
> ground for evangelical Christians, whose catchphrase –
> infuriating to
> a unanimous scientific community – is "Teach the
> Controversy".
> 
> Elsewhere, the Council of Europe recently declared that
> member
> governments should "firmly oppose" the teaching
> of creationism in
> science classes, denouncing it as a potential threat to
> human rights.
> Most countries in the developed world take the same stance.
> Islam has
> historically been much more well-disposed towards the
> theory of
> evolution than Christianity, in part because the Qu'ran
> does not go
> into detail about the creation process – but Islamic
> creationism is on
> the rise, in particular in Turkey, where creationism is
> included in
> school syllabuses.
> 
> Why is it an issue again?
> 
> It's hard to give an empirical answer. It is partly to
> do with an
> increasingly organised evangelical Christian movement and a
> growing
> number of Muslims in the UK who subscribe to creationism;
> according to
> Professor Reiss it may be a reaction against the exclusion
> of
> dissenting views from the science classroom. What's
> certain is that
> it's a phenomenon on the rise. "There is an
> insidious and growing
> problem," says the geneticist Professor Steve Jones.
> "It's a step back
> from rationality. They (the creationists) don't have a
> problem with
> science, they have a problem with argument. And
> irrationality is a
> very infectious disease."
> 
> Should creationism be taught in science lessons?
> 
> Yes...
> 
> * If science education ignores creationism, those who
> believe in it
> will ignore science
> 
> * It may strengthen the case for evolution to explain why
> creationism
> is not scientific
> 
> * A belief held by large numbers of people should not be
> dismissed out of hand
> 
> No...
> 
> * Presenting creationism alongside evolution gives it a
> false
> scientific credibility
> 
> * No one says evolution should feature in RE classes: why
> should this
> be any different?
> 
> * Science education should be decided by facts, not
> pressure from
> special interests
> "
> 
> Henk Elegeert
> 
> **********
> Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66
> discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
> Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met
> in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam
> uwachternaam
> Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met
> in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
> Het on-line archief is te vinden op:
> http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
> **********




**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********